Per Aspera

Lore & Background

Per Aspera was announced in June 2019 at the PC Gaming Show. An expansion pack, Green Mars, was released on October 21, 2021. A second expansion, Blue Mars, was released on May 2, 2022. A third expansion, Home, was released on January 23, 2023. The game was released on Meta Quest 2 on February 9, 2023. In 2021, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated Per Aspera for Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year during the 24th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards.

Reader's Guide

Per Aspera received 'generally favorable' reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic. Fellow review aggregator OpenCritic assessed that the game received strong approval, being recommended by 86% of critics. Davide Pessach of Italian Eurogamer described it as a very interesting colony builder narrative game with a stellar aesthetic, engaging story, and super cast of actors, noting fluid and rewarding gameplay rich with surprises and references to cool tech. Jonathan Bolding of PC Gamer summarized that the novel adaptation of nonlinear narrative to fit a strategy game goes over surprisingly well, combined with a novel terraforming mechanic, slick aesthetics, hard science chops, and classic genre gameplay. Martynas Klimas of PC Invasion said that Per Aspera reaches for lofty heights, but he could never shake the impression that the difficulties he encountered were more because of the game breaking down rather than Mars being a hostile place, though he noted that patches do wonders these days. The game's significance lies in its integration of a branching nonlinear story with strategy gameplay and terraforming mechanics, earning a nomination for Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year at the 24th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards.

Did You Know?

• The game has three expansions: Green Mars, Blue Mars, and Home.
• The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated it for Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year in 2021.

An AI's Mandate: The Core Premise

Per Aspera places the player in an unusual seat: not a human settler or a government official, but AMI, an artificial intelligence tasked with the monumental job of making Mars habitable for future human colonists. Developed by Tlön Industries and brought to Windows by publisher Raw Fury on December 3, 2020, the title frames its city-building mechanics through this sci-fi lens. Rather than managing a small frontier town or a medieval settlement, the player oversees the terraforming of an entire planet, shaping an alien world into something where people can eventually live. This premise gives the genre's familiar resource management and construction loops a distinctly futuristic and philosophical flavor, asking the player to think in geological and atmospheric scales rather than street-by-street planning. The AI protagonist also lends itself naturally to the game's narrative ambitions, as a non-human perspective on human survival creates inherent tension and moral complexity throughout the experience.

Nonlinear Storytelling Meets Strategy

What sets Per Aspera apart within the city-building genre is its commitment to a branching, nonlinear narrative that culminates in multiple possible endings. Rather than following a single scripted progression, the player's decisions ripple outward, altering the trajectory of the story and the fate of the Martian colony. Jonathan Bolding of PC Gamer noted how the game's adaptation of nonlinear narrative into a strategy framework goes over surprisingly well, suggesting that the marriage of branching storytelling with tactical planning is a genuinely novel achievement. The terraforming mechanic itself adds a layer of long-term strategic thinking, as the player must balance immediate construction needs against the slow, planetary-scale process of making Mars livable. Critics also praised the game's aesthetic presentation and its grounding in hard science, with references to both fictional and realistic technology woven throughout. The result is a strategy experience that rewards players who appreciate both thoughtful world-building and the satisfaction of classic genre gameplay.

From Announcement to a Growing Universe

Per Aspera's journey from first reveal to a fully expanded experience spanned over three and a half years. The game was first announced to the public in June 2019 during the PC Gaming Show, giving the world roughly eighteen months of anticipation before its Windows launch on December 3, 2020. Rather than treating the base game as a finished product, Tlön Industries and Raw Fury committed to a sustained content roadmap. The first expansion, Green Mars, arrived on October 21, 2021, followed by Blue Mars on May 2, 2022, and a third installment titled Home on January 23, 2023. This steady cadence of new content kept the Martian colony evolving well beyond its initial release. The game's reach also expanded beyond PC when a Meta Quest 2 port launched on February 9, 2023, bringing the terraforming experience to virtual reality and introducing the title to a new audience of players who could step inside the Martian landscape.

Critical Acclaim and Industry Recognition

Per Aspera earned broadly positive critical reception upon its release. Metacritic aggregated the reviews as generally favorable, while OpenCritic reported that 86 percent of critics recommended the title. Davide Pessach writing for Italian Eurogamer highlighted the game's stellar aesthetic, engaging narrative, and a strong cast of voice actors, calling it a rewarding experience for fans of the genre and its setting. Jonathan Bolding of PC Gamer emphasized the game's novel approach to blending nonlinear storytelling with strategy mechanics, alongside its slick visual design and hard science foundations. Not every review was uniformly glowing, however; Martynas Klimas of PC Invasion acknowledged the game's lofty ambitions but noted that some of the difficulties he encountered stemmed from technical issues rather than the intended challenge of a hostile Mars. Despite this, the game's quality was recognized at a higher level: in 2021, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated Per Aspera for Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year at the 24th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards.

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